RADIO
I like to consider myself a pioneer of the streaming approach. I won a league about seven years ago completely ignoring saves and just stacking up the starts each week. While streaming is undoubtedly more directly associated with pitching, there's plenty of value in streaming for offense as well.
Maybe you have a stacked roster and you can't drop anyone. But for those of us with a couple of guys on the roster fringes, it's never too early to look into targeting a specific player or two to gain an edge in a particular category. This season, I will be making weekly recommendations for extreme short term category specialists every week in three offensive areas: speed, power, and average; and three pitching areas: strikeouts, wins, and ratios (ERA/WHIP).
Below are my Week 6 category streamers for fantasy baseball. All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Head-to-Head Category Streamers to Consider
Speed
Delino DeShields (OF, TEX) - 43% Owned
This guy was a popular later round pick in drafts, but found himself on the DL early in the season and has been since largely forgotten. Well, he's back now and he's running as per usual. Delino DeShields has stolen four bases in the past two weeks, which should only serve to remind everyone of his enormous upside in the stolen bases department. His ownership percentage is only going to increase. Get him and then probably hang onto him.
Mallex Smith (OF, TB) - 28% Owned
Truth be told, Mallex Smith probably should have been on this list every week this season. I had him here in the early weeks, but wanted to add some new names. He's back because his ownership percentage isn't as high as it should be. Mallex has six stolen bases on the season with four of them coming in the past two weeks. It was only a matter of time before he started picking things up on the base paths. He's also hitting over .300, which doesn't hurt either.
Power
Franchy Cordero (OF, SD) - 16% Owned
With six home runs in his first 76 plate appearances, the upstart rookie is making an immediate splash in his first major league action. Franchy Cordero was initially called up due to injuries in the Padres' outfield, but even with Manuel Margot back, Cordero remains an every day player. His 34.2% strikeout rate is horrendous, but when he makes contact, the ball tends to go pretty far.
Pedro Alvarez (Util, BAL) - 1% Owned
This one is digging really deep and truly is just a flier. Pedro Alvarez is not an every day player, but his power is well documented. If Alvarez received a full season's worth of plate appearances, I have the utmost confidence he would exceed 30 home runs. That won't happen because he struggles to hit the ball where defenders aren't so he will never see enough at bats, but you can plug him in when he's playing in a favorable matchup and home for a big fly or two (he has two multi home run games the past week).
Average
Jeimer Candelario (3B, DET) - 36% Owned
With a name like Jeimer Candelario, how can you not be intrigued? He's only 24 years old, but has hit for a solid average throughout his minor league career. In his first extended action last season, he hit .283. This season, he's off to a strong start at around .290 and he's been especially hot the past two weeks, hitting over .350.
Howie Kendrick (2B, OF, WAS) - 13% Owned
Howie Kendrick is a career .290 hitter that spent the month of April hitting just about .290. He's boring. He's not fun. But he will sustain your batting average.
Strikeouts
Andrew Heaney (SP, LAA) - 8% Owned
It's always risky to stream a pitcher against the Rockies at Coors, but hey, this is only strikeout advice. If you want ratios, look to the other section! Heaney may not pitch that well, but the Rockies strike out the fourth most times in the league as a team and Heaney strikes out more than a batter an inning. It's the perfect combination.
Ian Kennedy (SP, KC) - 22% Owned
The Orioles are top six in strikeouts per game. That's who Ian Kennedy gets to face next week. Kennedy strikes out just under a batter an inning and the Orioles should do their part to make sure he eclipses that number.
Wins
Zack Wheeler (SP, NYM) - 18% Owned
This week, Zack Wheeler did not pitch great, but he got the win over the Padres. Unfortunately, he was in the ERA/WHIP section in last week's column. I won't make that same mistake twice as he is once again a great streamer for a cheap win when the Mets travel to Cincinnati to take on a bad Reds team.
Mike Minor (SP, TEX) - 10% Owned
Once a strong up and comer, Mike Minor has battled injury for the majority of the last few years. He's finally healthy and while he's not the pitcher he once was, he is on a good team with a good offense that faces a bad team with a bad offense next week. The Rangers have a home contest against the Tigers, making Minor a prime candidate for a win stream.
ERA/WHIP
Domingo German (RP, NYY) - 2% Owned
The Yankees' 25 year old is scheduled to slide into the rotation to replace the injured Jordan Montgomery. Domingo German throws hard and makes bat miss. He's listed at RP, but he's a starting pitcher now. His start next week should come at home against Oakland, which is not the most favorable of matchups, but I believe in the kid's raw talent.
Bartolo Colon (SP, TEX) - 12% Owned
When Bartolo Colon made his major league debut, I wasn't even in high school. I never thought I'd still be talking about him in the year 2018. But here we are. Despite not being a big strikeout guy, Colon has excelled through the majority of his career. He is off to a strong start this season with a sub 3.00 ERA through his first six appearances. Colon's start next week will come against Detroit, a team that ranks in the bottom half of the league in runs scored. Fire up Mr. Old and Not Quite Busted for that one.
